By Jim Hoover

The repugnant, the brain-dead, the mediocre, and the ugly seem to be accepted parts of our Republican political scene. Just witness what is euphemistically called the Republican debates.

Each debate seems to be speaking for developmentally disabled, gradually working toward repulsive, and scoring a crescendo in total butt-ugly.

The so-called debaters and the ragtag audience seem to be competing for the goal of total misanthropy.

Score strike number one for the debate at the Reagan Library. It involved an unbridled cheering for the execution of 234 Texas inmates who, this even before Rick Perry’s response, slicked brown hair, impeccably parted on the right like his politics –  his or not – blue-gray suit hugging his wide shoulders, “The state of Texas has a very thoughtful, a very clear process in place….If you come into our state and you kill one of our children, one of our police officers, or are involved in another crime and kill one of our citizens…you will be executed.” Notice “come into,”  suggesting outsiders as the perps.

Strike number two occurred in Tampa, Florida at the CNN/Tea Party Express debate, the tea-party-filled audience cheered loudly for the uninsured to be allowed to die, even before Ron Paul answered, when Wolf Blitzer asked him if a sick man without insurance should be allowed to die.

Strike three came at the Fox News-Google debate in Orlando when the crowd jeered and booed Stephen Hill, a soldier stationed in Iraq, who asked about presidential candidate, Rick Santorum’s stand on gay soldiers like himself. At the time, no candidate saw fit to chide the audience.

But to add muddle to knavery around him, Rick Perry was noticeably tongue tied, if not incoherent, in trying to explain his Pakistan foreign policy and in attempting to score points against Romney’s perceived “flip-flopping.”

Republican crowds, indeed Republican candidates have repeatedly struck out when it comes to empathy – both appear to be devoid of such.

Meanwhile Republicans in Congress seem to be falling all over themselves to win the scoundrel-of-the-year award, for they must be convinced that voters are the brain-dead part of the American equation and will not notice their assaults on our livelihood.

Would-be economic ship-wreckers, Senate Minority leader, Mitch McConnell, Minority Whip Jon Kyl, House Speaker, John Boehner and Majority Leader, Eric Cantor asked Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke, accentuating it later with threats, to “resist further extraordinary intervention in the U.S. economy [to stimulate the economy and lower interest rates].” Obviously the fed action might help the economy and hurt Republican chances to take the White House in 2012. Republican Representative, Mike Pence, even called for ending the fed’s ability to fight unemployment through legislation. Unsaid was his opinion that Bernanke was interfering with the job of Republicans in Congress, to keep unemployment high.

On another disaster front, Republicans are threatening to shut down the government rather than increase FEMA funds for destruction caused by Hurricane Irene, this in another attempt to blackmail Democrats in Congress. The darling of Virginia, Eric Cantor, led the charge in wanting to trade natural disaster funding for cutting investments in green energy.

After a surprise earthquake occurred in his Congressional district, one wonders if he is representing himself as a God-appointed, follow-on, temblor number two, but with a national scope.

One thing the “new Republicans” seem to agree on is that we can always sacrifice the poor, the vulnerable and even the middle class for the interests of the rich.

After their wins in the 2010 election, Republicans, who claim to be creationists, apparently believe that voters are not evolved, but created stupid.